you're watching cbs 5 eyewitness news in high definition. everything is gone. >> robbed a bay area youth group standed on the other side of the country. good afternoon everyone. i'm michelle griego. >> i'm frank mallicoat. they had traveled from oakland to florida for a youth conference and now members with wondering who would steal their luggage, ids and money. cate cauguiran joins us are from the news room. >> the cash they had on hand was for the entire trip. one member told us they were on the way to the bank and dropped did off and they got hungry and decided to stop. the story has a good ending but it was a rough couple of days for the church group. >> the amount of money that you stole, so you stole dreams, you stole those things that we

wanted to do. and you had just left not just me, but you have left many people right now without a shelter, without fooded. >> this group of 24 from oakland's group went to south florida for a youth conference. >> we come excited, eager to receive the things that god has for us, and unexpectedly all of this happens. >> reporter: the group was eating at a restaurant near the airport when their van was broken into. they lost $12,000 in cash, luggage and ids. >> we worked hard, our parents and a lot of us worked hard for that money. it was a lot of money that was stolen from us. >> reporter: all of them thousands of miles from home were left stranded. the emotional loss, visible across their faces. >> we're out here many miles from home with no one to contact or ask for help. >> reporter: and we got calls at our own station from people wanting to help this group out.

it appears viewers in florida were following this story closely as well and this group caught a break. take a listen to this. >> i believe he's the owner of the dolphins, a team out here in miami, and he came and he had a present for us and we didn't imagine, we didn't have a clue what it was, and he came down and they interviewed us and he presented with orr us with $15,000, we didn't know what happened. we just know it's a miracle. >> reporter: the group will continue to go to their youth conference as scheduled l and they told me they will get a chance to enjoy miami like they originally wanted. it was a wonderful ending to what would have been a sad story. >> it's the generosity of others that is great. thank you. awesome. thank you. good news for the economy. the job reports was 146,000 new jobs were a added last month and unemployment dropped to

7.7%, the lowest in four years. superstorm sandy caused work interruptions in the northeast but the weather had a minimal impact on the employment. and millions of people receiving extended unemployment would lose them without an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff sometime soon. here's danielle nottingham with where both sides stand on this friday. >> 2, 1. >> reporter: before the first family lit the national christmas tree, president obama said the mandatory spending cuts and tax hikes that could kick in 25 days from now are threatening to ruin the holidays for millions of americans. >> the american people are counting on this getting solved. >> reporter: the two parties are leaving negotiations to the two main power brokers, president obama and house speaker john boehner. >> if the president doesn't agree with our proposal, he has an obligation to families and small businesses to offer a plan of his own. a plan that can pass both

chambers of the congress. >> reporter: with the clock ticking toward the fiscal cliff deadline, government workers have joined the push but they want to make sure they're not cut out of the deal. >> federal employees that i represent have offered up $103 billion to the federal deficit. >> reporter: jd cox of the american federation of government employees say they can't afford anymore cuts and going over the fiscal cliff will impact millions of americans. >> there would be a lot of federal employees who would be furloughed or riffed and would lose their jobs. >> reporter: economists say the combination of automatic spending cuts and tax increases that will kick in january 1st if congress and the president don't reach an agreement could plunge the country back into recession. danielle nottingham, cbs news, washington. >> the house is scheduled to formally adjourn by the end of the year on december 14th but house majority leader says they will stay in session until a

cred credible solution is worked out. it could be a big day in the battle o of same sex mainly. the -- marriage. the justices are being asked to overturn a lower court ruling that the prop 8 ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional. they may decide to hear the case or they could let the ruling by the lower court stand which could pave the way for gay marriages to resume in california. a man is in serious condition after falling 30 feet at the oakland coliseum. it happened last night during the raider bronco game. it had just started. the man apparently climbed over a wall on the concourse outside the third deck. police say the fall was accidental. just days after two australian djs tricked workers on releasing medical information one of the nurses involved has been found dead. her body was found near the hospital today. police say it does not appear suspicious. the royal family says they are

deeply saddened and express condolences to the family. the djs had apologized for the prank and never expected the call to go through. several people have been hurt in an earthquake in japan. it triggered tsunami warnings and fears of another disaster in that region. >> reporter: reporters in this tokyo news room braced themselves as the 7.3 quake rocked the building shaking monitors and lights and rattling nerves. skyscrapers swayed for several minutes. authorities issued a tsunami warning. the quake struck the same japanese coast devastated in last year's deadly quake and tsunami that killed 20,000 people. residents near the coast ran for cover as thousands evacuated to higher ground. workers at the fukushima nuclear plant were ordered to move so safety.

last year's tsunami hit the reactor. this time the tsunami warning was lifted two hours after the tremor hit. there are no reports of serious damage from the quake but several people were hurt. tina kraus cbs news. >> more than 300,000 people are still living in temporary shelters after that massive 9.0 earthquake ask and tsunami last year. one san rafael remembers the dark moments of that day, pearl harbor. he sat down with anne makovec to give his version of the attack and what he did to keep from getting killed. >> at first i said hell no i'm not going to abandon my ship. i'll fight it out. >> reporter: john will never forget the moments from december 7th 1941 when he was stationed in pearl harbor hawaii. >> and i was on the battle ship uss west virginia, a great big

monstrous thing. and i looked out and there i saw a plane headed for my ship. >> reporter: then he felt six torpedoes hit. >> and all hell broke out. the ship began to lift. had great big holes in the port side. fortunately we had an outstanding crew on that ship. >> reporter: he is one of only a few of them left. he's 92 years old but his memories are as sharp as ever. he attended this memorial service on coast guard island this morning. and we sat down to talk about the darkest moments of that day. >> and what i did i would grab the sailors hair and pull it just as hard as i could. if i got a moan, a groan or a sign of life, i would take him out to the other group of sailors to get him medical help. because i didn't have time to take out dead bodies. and there were a lot of them. >> reporter: more than 100

people died on the uss west virginia, but not roshkel. >> those bullets are terrible. they'll kill you. and so i had to dive off the bow of the ship to keep from being killed. >> reporter: for months his family thought he was dead. his mother died not knowing he had surviveed. i asked him what he wants history to take away from pearl harbor. first he advises everyone to pay attention to disaster drills. second. >> what you have to do is find another way than war to solve the problems of the world. because there is no winning in wars. there are victors but everybody loses. >> reporter: on coast guard island, anne makovec cbs 5. more than 80,000 survived. there's only 3000 left though

all in their late 80s and 90s. >> he reminds us of the bravery and heurism. a why adding color to your diet could add life. for some workers, the company sending employees home with an extra five grant over the holiday season. i'm meteorologist lawrence karnow skies are clearing out nicely now but will that continue for the weekend. we'll talk about that coming up next. ,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,

autism.. in today's health watch an experimental blood text may help detect and diagnose autism. researchers at the children's hospital of boston say the blood samples can predict

autism in boys with a 70% accuracy rate. the test has already been licensed for commercial development and clinical trials could start early next year. and new research shows substances called car typhoids may be protector -- car toe nodes, they are the colorful red pigments found in foods like carrots and spinach and using blood tests women with higher level the of the nutrient had significantly lower levels of breast cancer: good news for al baldwin, apparently he may not have to worry about putting the iphone away on a plane. the fcc is urging the faa to allow more use of devices during take off and landings. it had planned to review

policies on electronic devices while in flight. a recent poll found 25%over american had a stance on the debt reduction plan. here's the catch, it's a fake. it was a test to see just how many people who speak out on something they clearly don't know a thing about. 8% supported the mythical plan. 17% opposed it. compare that to the 39% of voters who were willing to share their thoughts on a real policy up for debate in congress. kind of funny. you have to do your research. that's what you have to do. 50 shades of grey is paying off in green for some workers. random house is promising each employee a $5000 bonus to celebrate a profitable year. much of the company's success could be linked to the wildly successful 50 shades. the first of the book has been on the best seller for 37 weeks

already. the e-books have been in the top 5 for even longer a very trilogy. >> i read all three in maybe two weeks. >> they should send you a bonus. >> i like that idea. this is going to be a million dollar weekend weather wise. a lot of sunshine, looking very good outside. a lot of sunshine over the bay. looks like a beautiful afternoon. the temperatures still a little bit on the cool side in some spots. only 55 degrees in santa rosa. 57 in concord and 59 in san jose. plenty of sunshine after patchy fog early on. still through the afternoon, mostly sunny skies and should be pleasant this afternoon. need to watch out for chilly temperatures and patchy dense fog, and a much warmer weekend, especially sunday with the offshore winds. sunny and dry. the jet stream lingering to the north will continue to lift so the rain line staying well to the north. that will keep us nice and dry

throughout the weekend. another concern if you're traveling in the central valley watch out for the tule fog. high country looking good, mainly in the 50s there. other than a couple of passing clouds this afternoon, looking like some great weather ahead and late tonight, likely seeing patchy ground fog beginning to develop in the interior valleys. enjoying a dry day, 63 in san jose. 60 in san mateo. and 50s and 60s this afternoon and as you head inside the bay, lots of sunshine, 50s and 60s for highs. next couple of days including the weekend, what a difference from last weekend. we had that real stormy weather. this weekend going to be nice and dry. temperatures well into the 60s by sunday and monday. your snow report, sugar bowl looking good. mostly sunny skies. plenty to key on already.

mostly sunny skies. watch out for the fog across the central valley. and 36 to 50 inches of snow on the ground. people are loving that. >> you're making me want to go skiing. >> you should. what's stopping is you. >> good up to wood lake. >> let's go. >> while they take a trip. we'll take a break. a strange suit for an american team, a lout over his requirement to attend church for ten years. roberta gonzales in the cbs 5 studio, here to collect a sizable donation for our food for bay area family. we'll have that as eyewitness continues right here on cbs5. ,,,,,,,,,,

it's the little things in life that make me smile. spending the day with my niece. i don't use super poligrip for hold because my dentures fit well. before those little pieces would get in between my dentures and my gum and it was uncomfortable. even well-fitting dentures let in food particles. super poligrip is zinc free. with just a few dabs, it's clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. so it's not about keeping my dentures in, it's about keeping the food particles out. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip. carotenoids

we're following some breaking news right now. the supreme court has announced it will take up the issue of gay marriage in california. we've been waiting for a ruling on this for some time now. >> gay marriages will be on hold here in the state until the high court makes its ruling sometime in the new year. so some news for folks who have been waiting to hear on that for quite a while. let's turn it over to roberta gonzales. you have a special guest in the studio. >> this is a special day because about a month ago, cbs 5 proud sponsors of food for bay areas families we've been doing this for endless years and we have a special donation in house from bank of america, and we have michael here from

alameda county food bank. you have a special presentation but before we present the check, how about telling us about give a meal program with bank of america. >> absolutely. give a meal is a fantastic program. we have the honor this year of leading that program again and being an exclusive sponsor. for every dollar that is donated we have $2 that bank of america matches and it's phenomenal program. >> it doesn't have top an employee of bank o of america. anybody that banks with bank of america can donate a dollar. >> two for one and you can do that at www.bankofamerica.com/give. and it goes to addressing hunger which is a critical need. >> i like that. can we have a little bit of a drum roll and see how much you guys have raised here. >> absolutely. absolutely. >> right here. $25,000. so michael with alameda county food bank. that is very generous.

michael. >> thank you on behalf of the alameda county food bank and the bay area food bankings this is an extremely meaningful contribution. we last month served more people through our food help line than we have served in a single month before. they are able to serve $4 worth o of food for every dollar donated. this is going to be to distribute $100,000 worth of food in our community. >> gentlemen thank you for being here today. you can visit us online at cbssf.com for more information and help feed bay area families. eyewitness news will continue. we'll be right back. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[ male announcer ] december is customer appreciation month at subway restaurants. saying thanks is a great deal

because we're offering $2 six inch subs -- the cold cut combo or meatball marinara. $2 each, all december long. appreciation tastes amazing! hurry in for your $2 sub. subway. eat fresh. grapes.. but to tony tantillo.. the to you and me, they may just look like your every day green grapes but to tony tantillo, they're the taste of italy. here's tony with the tip of the day. >> today's tip of the day has to do with italian grapes. they're being grown in italy and imported spoot u.s. i love these -- into the u.s. they're the number one sold grape variety are the mus cat grapes. you want to make sure they're nice and big like this all the way around. a slight amber color to them. that's when they're at their best. when you bring them home, store them in the refrigerator. buy them and enjoy them within two or three days. i love the flavor. they have a couple of seeds.

big deal. don't let that deter you from buying them. enjoy them. it's like eating, it's like having italy at your table. and i'm tony tantillo, your fresh grocer and remember to eat fresh and stay healthy. i really do love these grapes. >> he does love them. a bizarre juvenile court sentence is catching the attention of the aclu. >> an oklahoma teen was sentenced to attend church every sunday for 10 years straight. the judge handed down the sentence after the teen was convicted of manslaughter of the drunk driving death of his friend. the aclu says it's a clear violation of his rights. the supreme court announced it will take up gay marriage cases, what this means for same sex couples here in california. that's coming up on the news at 5.

>> taylor: when you used to come up here when you were little, i used to picture this, seeing you sitting behind a desk after eric and--and ridge and then you taking your place. this is your right. it's your birthright. it's where you belong, and i don't want you to listen to anything